I am the original owner of a '99 4.0 XLT 4 door. I am puzzled by one of the rear doors that will not open. It seems that the bottom latch will not release. The upper latch releases and the top of the door becomes ajar. The bottom holds fast. I have tried pulling on the door latch cable with pliers thinking the bottom latch need more pull than the top. No Luck! I have tried prying the door lightly to see if there might be an alignment problem causing it. No luck with that either.

mike i am having the same problem with a 2000 ranger i just purchased. so far i have took out the plug at the bottom of the door on outside and took the door panel loose on inside and there is a small hole at bottom of inside door behind panel where i can put a little lite i made out of a gauge lite assembly and can see the latch but cant figure out how to trip the latch.( i have been lookin at the recipacating saw as a second sorce and cutting the bottom of the lock off) .....l.o.l. but if u can figure how to trip the lock please email me or post it here i will do the same if i get it open.

up date, got door panel raised, bottom door latch rusty and may be froze, cannot get it to release. any body had this problem. all that i know that is left to do is take a recipacating saw and saw of lock pin at bottom of door. if anybody has any solutions please leave comment thanks.

I picked up an 01 4x4 in Feb with the same problem, both back doors frozen closed. 1 hour later and a can of PB Blaster and I had them open. Frozen at the bottom latch. I soaked the bottom latch from under the exterior of the door and at the interior bottom, wiggled for a few minutes then soaked again, waited and wiggled more till it came free. Just a little rust, I lubed everything up and now working great.
Funny, when I bought the truck the Ford dealer service Dept.s tried to tell me that the doors were probably "fixed" shut. Stupid.

I picked up an 01 4x4 in Feb with the same problem, both back doors frozen closed. 1 hour later and a can of PB Blaster and I had them open. Frozen at the bottom latch. I soaked the bottom latch from under the exterior of the door and at the interior bottom, wiggled for a few minutes then soaked again, waited and wiggled more till it came free. Just a little rust, I lubed everything up and now working great.
Funny, when I bought the truck the Ford dealer service Dept.s tried to tell me that the doors were probably "fixed" shut. Stupid.

Hard to believe the dealer said that....What a crock!! Seems like the dealerships get lazy by the day!

thanks for the respond i had to go inside the doors with my air cutters and cut them loose,they were rusted to bad to even come loose with pb blaster. the girl said she never rode in the back so she never opened them, the only trouble now is the latches are 75.00 dollars each from dealer. anybody know of a salvage yard that might have a couple used latches i could purchase.

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lol yea speedcity they were fixed shut buy a thing called a rusty latch

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if anybody needs too cut them loose to get their doors open email me and i will tell u what tools i used and how i did it, it is a tight spot to get 2 but they can be cut loose.

My 99 Ranger I Bought Used Had The Same Problem On Both Doors I Used A Sawzall And Cut Off The Bottom Latch Between The Door And The Rocker Panel It Still Latches On Top But Would Recommend Replacing Bottom Latch And Locking Mech Inside The Door

I know this is an older post but thought I would see if I get a response. I just bought a 1999 four door Ford Ranger. Both of the bottom latches on the rear doors are stuck. I removed the rubber plug on the outside of the door and also the inner door panel. Sprayed the lock/actuator with PB Blaster several days now but can't get the actuator unfroze. The cable is still attached to the lock. I read on another post somebody was able to free it with a thin bladed screwdriver, but I am unsure where to trigger the mechanism. The lock is severely rusty, so I am guessing I may need to cut it out. I was wondering how you did this and where you bought your actuators from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragins10

thanks for the respond i had to go inside the doors with my air cutters and cut them loose,they were rusted to bad to even come loose with pb blaster. the girl said she never rode in the back so she never opened them, the only trouble now is the latches are 75.00 dollars each from dealer. anybody know of a salvage yard that might have a couple used latches i could purchase.

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lol yea speedcity they were fixed shut buy a thing called a rusty latch

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if anybody needs too cut them loose to get their doors open email me and i will tell u what tools i used and how i did it, it is a tight spot to get 2 but they can be cut loose.